Integration toolbar

Abstract

A web-page based integration toolbar provides the context within which other information or applications are accessed. A toolbar on a user's display is coupled to the currently displayed web-page, and provides contextual links to databases and applications based on the information currently displayed, or currently selected by the user. For example, the toolbar may contain a link to an inventory-control program, and may be configured to display of current inventory status of an item when the user selects the item on the user's displayed web-page. At the same time, the toolbar may contain a link to an analysis application that provides a demographic profile of prior purchasers of the selected item, and/or provides a forecast of likely demand, based on seasonal factors and the like. By providing a toolbar that is configured to provide contextual information to one or more independent databases or applications, based on the context of the page that a user is currently viewing, these independent databases and applications can be easily and efficiently integrated using a common user interface that is relatively easy to comprehend

I claim:  
     
         1 . A toolbar system comprising: 
 a web-page access system that is configured to allow a user to navigate through a plurality of web-pages and to display a select web-page,    a toolbar, operably coupled to the web-page access system, that is configured to: 
 obtain context information based on the select web-page, and  
 provide some or all of the context information to one or more applications that are substantially independent of the select web-page.  
   
     
     
         2 . The toolbar system of  claim 1 , wherein 
 the toolbar is further configured to 
 receive resultant information from the one or more applications in response to receipt of the some or all of the context information, and  
 provide the resultant information to the user.  
   
     
     
         3 . The toolbar system of  claim 1 , wherein 
 each of the one or more applications is substantially independent of each other of the one or more applications.    
     
     
         4 . The toolbar system of  claim 1 , wherein 
 the context information is further based on a select item on the select web-page.    
     
     
         5 . The toolbar system of  claim 4 , wherein 
 the one or more applications include at least one of: 
 a database-access application,  
 an inventory-control application,  
 a traffic-analysis application,  
 a sales-automation application, and  
 a customer-profile application.  
   
     
     
         6 . The toolbar system of  claim 4 , wherein 
 the context information includes at least one of: 
 an SKU of the select item,  
 a model number of the select item,  
 a URL of the select web-page, and  
 a supplier identification.  
   
     
     
         7 . The toolbar system of  claim 1 , wherein 
 the one or more applications include at least one of: 
 a database-access application,  
 a software-management application,  
 an inventory-control application,  
 a traffic-analysis application,  
 a sales-automation application, and  
 a customer-profile.  
   
     
     
         8 . A method of integrating a plurality of applications, comprising: 
 providing a toolbar system for inclusion in a network browser, 
 the toolbar system being configured to obtain context information from a web-page that is displayed by the network browser, and  
   providing an editor that is configured to facilitate programming of the toolbar system to convey some or all of the context information to each of the plurality of applications.    
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 8 , further including 
 providing a rendering system that is configured to render received information from the plurality of applications.    
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 8 , wherein 
 each of the plurality of applications is substantially independent of each other of the plurality of applications.    
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 8 , wherein 
 the context information is further based on a select item on the web-page.    
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 11 , wherein 
 the plurality of applications include at least one of: 
 a database-access application,  
 an inventory-control application,  
 a traffic-analysis application,  
 a sales-automation application, and  
 a customer-profile application.  
   
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 11 , wherein 
 the context information includes at least one of: 
 an SKU of the select item,  
 a model number of the select item,  
 a URL of the select web-page, and  
 a supplier identification.  
   
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 8 , wherein 
 the one or more applications include at least one of: 
 a database-access application,  
 a software-management application,  
 an inventory-control application,  
 a traffic-analysis application,  
 a sales-automation application, and  
 a customer-profile.  
   
     
     
         15 . A computer program that is configured for execution on a computer system, so as to cause the computer system to: 
 display a toolbar that is operably coupled to a web-page access system that is configured to display a select web-page,    obtain context information from the select web-page, and    communicate the context information from the select web-page to one or more applications identified by the toolbar.    
     
     
         16 . The computer program of  claim 15 , wherein the computer program is configured to further cause the computer system to: 
 receive resultant information from the one or more applications in response to receipt of the context information, and    display some or all of the resultant information.    
     
     
         17 . The computer program of  claim 15 , wherein 
 each of the one or more applications is substantially independent of each other of the one or more applications.    
     
     
         18 . The computer program of  claim 15 , wherein 
 the context information is further based on a select item on the select web-page.    
     
     
         19 . The computer program of  claim 15 , wherein 
 the one or more applications include at least one of: 
 a database-access application,  
 an inventory-control application,  
 a traffic-analysis application,  
 a sales-automation application, and  
 a customer-profile application.  
   
     
     
         20 . The computer program of  claim 15 , wherein 
 the context information includes at least one of: 
 an SKU of the select item,  
 a model number of the select item,  
 a URL of the select web-page, and  
 a supplier identification.